Alice Breed
Alice Ives Breed was a student at Shimer College during the Seminary period, graduating in 1871. She subsequently married Francis W. Breed, the owner of a shoemaking company in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Breeds lived in the Boston area, where she was active in the women's club movement; at different times their address was listed as Lynn, Boston or Cambridge. She was one of the 11 founding members of Lynn's North Shore Club, and its first president.http://books.google.com/books?id=OFJKn1HaKiAC&pg=PA647#v=onepage&q&f=false She frequently toured the country speaking to other women's clubs. In 1896, she was elected as the vice-president of the nationwide Federation of Women's Clubs.http://books.google.com/books?id=OFJKn1HaKiAC&pg=PA176 In 1898, she was memorialized with a souvenir spoon.http://books.google.com/books?id=lHUoAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA4-PA23 Breed converted to the Baha'i faith in the early 20th century, as did most of her children. Her daughter, Florence, married the eminent Baha'i Ali Kuli Khan in 1904, a marriage that "was praised by 'Abdu'l-Baha as the first marriage between East and West, a symbol of the unity taught by the Baha’i Faith."http://bahaistories.blogspot.com/2010/11/ali-kuli-khan-becomes-one-of-abdul.html Mentioned *in the August 1895 Oread, p. 33: *:Mrs. Alice Ives Breed, Lynn, Mass.. president of the North Shore Club, has been traveling extensively in Egypt and has sent bright descriptions of her journeyings in that far away land. *''op. cit., p. 34: *:A report of a meeting of the Massachusetts Federation of Women's Clubs in Dorchester, comes to hand. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe is president of the Federation, and Mrs. Livermore's name was on the program. At the close of the report we read: "Arrangements are being made for a breakfast, to be given at the Parker House, at one o'clock, in honor of Mrs. Breed, of the Lynn Woman's Club. It is to be given by the members of the Federated Clubs, who have taken this opportunity of welcoming Mrs. Breed home after her four months' trip abroad. Mrs. Breed is chairman of the state committee of correspondence of the Federated Clubs." Mrs. Breed was known in Mt. Carroll as Miss Alice Ives. She and Mrs. Sawyer, who speaks here in June, were classmates. *in Bahai Followers Observe New Year, Cambridge ''Post, 1912-03-22: *:Boston Bahais, followers of Abdul Baha, the Persian prophet of a universal religion, met last evening at the home of Mrs. Alice Ives Breed, 367 Harvard Street, Cambrige, to celebrate the Feast of Naurooz, Bahai New Year. *in Mahmud's Diary, 1912-05-23: *:The Master went directly to the home of Mrs Alice Breed. As that evening was the commemoration of the Declaration of the Báb as well as the birthday of `Abdu'l-Bahá, the Bahá'ís, with the utmost happiness and joy, had arranged a magnificent feast. When `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived, He rested for awhile and then joined the gathering of the friends, illuminating the meeting with His presence. .... Mrs Breed brought before the Master a birthday cake with 68 candles, representing His age. At her request, He lit the first candle and then each of the friends in turn lit a candle, each person like a moth burning with the fire of love. When the cake was cut, each guest took a slice as a sacred relic. Mrs Breed, indeed, lit the candle of servitude and steadfastness that evening and, in doing so, became the recipient of bounty from `Abdu'l-Bahá's presence. *in telegram from Shoghi Effendi to Florence Breed Khanum, 1933-10-23: *:Heartfelt sympathy your great sorrow. Mrs. Breed's pioneer services ever gratefully remembered. Assure you fervent prayers. Love. *in BOSArchitecture: 22 Marlborough Street, retrieved 2012-01-01: *:By 1904, Marlborough was the home of Mrs. Alice Esther (Ives) Breed and her son, Francis W. Breed. She was the wife of Francis W. Breed. He was a shoe manufacturer in Lynn and a promoter of mining and railway ventures. She continued to live at 22 Marlborough in 1905. It appears that Mrs. Breed was living temporarily in Boston. Her husband probably continued to live in Lynn or possibly in Cambridge, where the couple was living at the time of the 1910 US Census. *in "Finishing the Work: `Abdu'l-Bahá in Dublin, 1912", Phillip Tussing, 2010-06-13: *:On a more down-to-earth level, Alice Ives Breed was most able to receive the Bahá'í Message as a deflator of the balloons of people's pretensions, and as a very sensible approach to spiritual matters. *in Abdul-Baha's Journey in America: New York -- Boston: Moths around a candle; at the home of Alice Ives Breed, 2011-07-13 Profiled *in Daughters of the American Revolution, [http://books.google.com/books?id=FO9T8Pf7GdQC&pg=PA36 Lineage Book: Volume 13], 1896 *in Marzieh Gail, Arches of the Years, 1991: *:Alice Ives Breed made her home a salon where she entertained what was (in that parochial age) a wide variety of guests. For example, when in Japan she sent pleas to the Empress that Japanese women be allowed to attend the convention of the General Federation of Women's Clubs which would meet in Denver in 1898, and the Empress, not without arousing opposition, appointed two Court ladies to attend. These two progressive women were later guests in Alice's home. Another personality sponsored by Alice, whom she met at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, was Swami Vivekananda, and he too became her house guest. When Khan was translating for Mírzá Abu’l-Fa dl at Green Acre (Maine), Mary Hanford Ford introduced him to Alice and it was quite natural for her to listen to and accept the Bahá’í Faith from this young Persian. Besides Florence, her daughters Alice and Ruby and son Ralph all becameBahá’ís. Only Francis held back, saying he was 'not good enough'. As for Grandfather Breed, he was, so far as one can tell, a de facto believer. *:Long a distinguished clubwoman, in that era when the women's clubs were a growing force for progress, and as the song says 'brought culture to Buffalo', Alice Breed, Vice-President of the General Federation, was widely expected to win the presidency at the Denver Convention. But the ladies of the Western delegations envied and disliked the 'effete East'. Being on their home ground, and thus having the support of the local press, they succeeded through skullduggery worthy of male politicians in defeating her. *:Alice, however, remained unbeatable (just as she remained some years later when her husband lost his fortune). She never recognized defeat. *:(more ...) *in "Mrs. Alice Ives Breed", by Clara Bassett Adams, The Symposium 1:1, October 1896, pp. 31-32: *:Seated directly behind the nominee for vice-presidency of the General Federation of Women's Clubs when the results of the election were made known to the delegates at the Louisville biennial, it became my privilege to tender the first congratulations to that officer-elect. An almost unprecedented number of club members and many outside friends have since expressed their approval, the last to be heard from being Mrs Mabel Loomis Todd, whose recent letter bears the postmark of Keyoto, Japan. *:That Mrs. Alice Ives Breed has many warm friends located in various sections of our country does not completely explain the general indorsement placed upon this choice of the convention. The greatest good to the greatest number requires that the needs and requirements of the organization be first considered, and that the honor conferred upon a given individual be made of secondary importance. The election, therefore, was not so much a tribute to a society leader as it was a recognition of official qualifications. Mrs. Breed has rare executive ability combined with that rarer tact which is a keen discrimination operating under the guidance of a kindly heart. This it was that won for her the highest office in which a vacancy existed. *:Alice Ives was born in Pavilion, Illinois, January 15, 1853. She is descended from a Revolutionary soldier of Connecticut who, when word came to him that there was fighting at Lexington, shouldered his gun and followed Putnam to Massachusetts. Family tradition also claims for her a collateral descent from Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga. *:Sixty years ago her paternal grandparents moved with their large family from Chautauqua county, New York, to a little settlement in Illinois known as Franklin Grove. At about the same time her maternal grandmother, twice widowed, journeyed with her twelve children from Lewis county, New York, for the same destination. *:These families shared many sentiments in common, being strict Baptists, stanch abolitionists, and strong prohibitionists, and there was much intermarrying between them. The granddaughter is progressive but not aggressive, gracious yet not timid, frank but not severe. *:Coming a generation nearer the subject of this sketch, we find Franklin Benedict Ives, one of the first pupils to be graduated from the Rush Medical College of Chicago, and Frances M. Luce, who became his wife. Dr. Ives is now practicing as a specialist in Chicago, in which city his son and two of his three daughters reside. Mrs. Ives was one of those self-sacrificing mothers who, quite unintentionally, would have endangered the tendency to generosity in her children, were it not that a beautiful character must ever exert a stronger influence for good than any prescribed course of training can furnish. She died eleven years ago; but that influence still surrounds her gifted daughter, and will not cease to be a motive power in the ordering of her plans. *:It was in 1871 that Miss Alice Ives went to Lynn, where two years later she was married to Francis W. Breed, a prominent shoe manufacturer, and a well-known man of affairs. *:Mr. and Mrs. Breed are equally interested in music, art, and literature. They have traveled extensively, both at home and abroad, are noted for their charming hospitality, and are generous supporters of philanthropic work. *:In the atmosphere of their lovely home and family, the old notion that woman must neglect her home to engage in outside work meets with a wholesome rebuke. *:When shall we learn that a strong and noble personality must tell for good wherever placed? It is to the good homemaker we turn when in quest of a good neighbor; and it is to the good neighbor we look for the most helpful and enjoyable club work. *:Mrs. Breed excels as an organizer. She was the first president of the Woman's Auxiliary to the Young Men's Christian Association of Lynn, an early vice-president of the Lynn Women's Club, and the first officer to preside over the North Shore Club. She was also a member of the Women's Committee of the World's Congress Auxiliary in 1893, for the last two years chairman of the Massachusetts State Committee of Correspondence, and a member of it from the time of its formation until called to her present office. *:In her official relations, she is quick to discern and prompt to execute, always approachable, and ever ready to appreciate that which makes for progress. *:Mrs. Breed is, furthermore, conversant with the entire history of the club movement and in sympathetic touch with her associate workers. Judging by her work in the past, we may confidently look for strong results to attend her endeavors in behalf of the General Federation, which, in calling her to the vice-presidency, became itself a proper recipient of special congratulation. Category:Biographable Category:Baha'is